Exam question 3 · Arabian Nights, The Tale of the Hunchback, part 36: a hung…

Which of the following best describes the outcome of the barber's ministration to the hunchback?

Mova's choice: option 4 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · Who acts: barber · What happens: follow, describe, minister · To what, where: outcome

This is exam question 3 of lesson 196 «Arabian Nights, The Tale of the Hunchback, part 36: a hungry brother eats an imaginary feast, and the barber revives the dead hunchback» of the books course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: the test at school.

The question

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	6 describes	obj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 best	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 best	det
4	following	follow	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	5 best	case
5	best	good	ADJ	Degree=Sup	6 describes	nmod
6	describes	describe	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 outcome	det
8	outcome	outcome	NOUN	Number=Sing	6 describes	obj
9	of	of	ADP	_	13 ministration	case
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 barber	det
11	barber	barber	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 ministration	nmod:poss
12	's	's	PART	_	11 barber	case
13	ministration	ministration	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 outcome	nmod
14	to	to	ADP	_	16 hunchback	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 hunchback	det
16	hunchback	hunchback	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 ministration	nmod
17	?	?	PUNCT	_	6 describes	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund				vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	describe	present		the outcome of the barber's ministration to the hunchback	of the best	tree rules
3	minister		the barber		to the hunchback	nom ministration «act intransitive»: poss=agent to=obl

One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

The options

Option 1

After the barber applied balsam to his neck, the hunchback sat up, coughed out the bone, and returned to his life in the city.

The tree, 24 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	After	after	ADP	_	3 barber	case
2	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	3 barber	det
3	barber	barber	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 sat	obl
4	applied	apply	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	5 balsam	amod
5	balsam	balsam	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 barber	conj
6	to	to	ADP	_	8 neck	case
7	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	8 neck	nmod:poss
8	neck	neck	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 balsam	nmod
9	,	,	PUNCT	_	3 barber	punct
10	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	11 hunchback	det
11	hunchback	hunchback	NOUN	Number=Sing	12 sat	nsubj
12	sat	sit	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
13	up	up	ADP	_	12 sat	compound:prt
14	,	,	PUNCT	_	15 coughed	punct
15	coughed	cough	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 sat	conj
16	out	out	ADP	_	15 coughed	compound:prt
17	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	18 bone	det
18	bone	bone	NOUN	Number=Sing	15 coughed	obj
19	,	,	PUNCT	_	21 returned	punct
20	and	and	CCONJ	_	21 returned	cc
21	returned	return	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	12 sat	conj
22	to	to	ADP	_	24 life	case
23	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	24 life	nmod:poss
24	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 returned	obl
25	in	in	ADP	_	27 city	case
26	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	27 city	det
27	city	city	NOUN	Number=Sing	21 returned	obl
28	.	.	PUNCT	_	12 sat	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	apply	participle						vn use-105.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	sit up	past	the hunchback			after the barber and applied balsam to his neck		vn assuming_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent
3	cough out	participle	the hunchback not said here	the bone				vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent bone=Theme
4	return	past	the hunchback not said here		the city		to hunchback's life result	vn convert-26.6.2-1 «NP V S_ING»: agent=Patient to life=Result

Option 2

The hunchback remained dead, though the barber tried many herbs and prayers for several hours before giving up entirely.

The tree, 19 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 hunchback	det
2	hunchback	hunchback	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 remained	nsubj
3	remained	remain	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	dead	dead	ADJ	Degree=Pos	3 remained	xcomp
5	,	,	PUNCT	_	9 tried	punct
6	though	though	SCONJ	_	9 tried	mark
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	8 barber	det
8	barber	barber	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 tried	nsubj
9	tried	try	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 remained	conj
10	many	many	ADJ	Degree=Pos	11 herbs	amod
11	herbs	herb	NOUN	Number=Plur	9 tried	obj
12	and	and	CCONJ	_	13 prayers	cc
13	prayers	prayer	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 herbs	conj
14	for	for	ADP	_	16 hours	case
15	several	several	ADJ	Degree=Pos	16 hours	amod
16	hours	hour	NOUN	Number=Plur	11 herbs	nmod
17	before	before	SCONJ	_	18 giving	mark
18	giving	give	VERB	Tense=Pres VerbForm=Part	9 tried	advcl
19	up	up	ADP	_	18 giving	compound:prt
20	entirely	entirely	ADV	_	18 giving	advmod
21	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 remained	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	when	other	roles by
1	remain	past	the hunchback			dead property	vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	try	past	the barber	many herbs and prayers	for several hours		vn try-61.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent herb=Eventuality
3	give up	gerund	the barber not said here			entirely property	vn resign-10.11-2 «NP V»: agent=Agent

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The hunchback was restored to life through the application of an ointment made of balsam.

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 hunchback	det
2	hunchback	hunchback	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 restored	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 restored	aux:pass
4	restored	restore	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	to	to	ADP	_	6 life	case
6	life	life	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 restored	obl
7	through	through	ADP	_	9 application	case
8	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 application	det
9	application	application	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 restored	obl
10	of	of	ADP	_	12 ointment	case
11	an	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	12 ointment	det
12	ointment	ointment	NOUN	Number=Sing	9 application	nmod
13	made	make	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	12 ointment	acl
14	of	of	ADP	_	15 balsam	case
15	balsam	balsam	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 made	obl
16	.	.	PUNCT	_	4 restored	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	other	roles by
1	restore	past · passive		the hunchback	life	the application of a ointment		vn contribute-13.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient»: subject=Theme to life=Recipient
2	make	participle		a ointment not said here			of balsam	vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset
3	apply		a ointment					nom application «act intransitive»: of=agent

Option 4 · ← Mova's choice

The hunchback recovered fully after the barber treated his neck with a salve.

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 hunchback	det
2	hunchback	hunchback	NOUN	Number=Sing	3 recovered	nsubj
3	recovered	recover	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	root	root
4	fully	fully	ADV	_	3 recovered	advmod
5	after	after	SCONJ	_	8 treated	mark
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 barber	det
7	barber	barber	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 treated	nsubj
8	treated	treat	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	3 recovered	advcl
9	his	his	PRON	Case=Gen Gender=Masc Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs	10 neck	nmod:poss
10	neck	neck	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 treated	obj
11	with	with	ADP	_	13 salve	case
12	a	a	DET	Definite=Ind PronType=Art	13 salve	det
13	salve	salve	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 treated	obl
14	.	.	PUNCT	_	3 recovered	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	recover	past	the hunchback					fully property	vn obtain-13.5.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent
2	treat	past	the barber	barber's neck				with a salve	vn equip-13.4.2-1 «NP V NP-Fulfilling PP»: agent=Agent neck=Recipient with salve=Theme

Text: the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (world/data/school/), as the course runner gave them to the student. Trees: Mova's own parse — the en model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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